The Tea Series

by Sheila Horgan

  “I thought you said she would go back there if she left. If you think I’ve only got one shot, shouldn’t we hurry?”

  “Don’t make me hurt you, Teagan. You don’t get to throw my words back in my face if I don’t get a chance to think about what I’m gonna say. Have you ever met Joy? Does she know what you look like?”

  “I’ve never met her. I guess if she showed up at Jessie’s after the baby was born, she might have seen a picture of me, or she might have seen me coming and going if she was spying on him. Why?”

  “Because if she sees you, she might run. Running with a baby is worse than running with a scissors. We just can’t have that. I’ll go up and talk to her.”

  “I can’t ask you to do that, Cara. We don’t know what she’s gonna do.”

  “You didn’t ask me. I volunteered. She’ll be fine. There won’t be any problem. I feel okay about it.”

  “You sound like Mom.”

  “From your lips to God’s ears.”

  “See?”

  “Mom would handle this really well, so let’s just hope that I do sound like Mom. Are you going to call Jessie and tell him we found her?”

  “Nope. We didn’t find her yet. I’m gonna text him and tell him we might have come up with something, we’re going to check it out, and we’ll let him know what we find. Are you going to let A.J. know?”

  “Yep. He and I have a new agreement. A commitment? I’m not sure what to call it, but we decided that we’re not going to be quite so independent any more. We have gotten into the habit of turning to each other after the fact. That’s not good.”

  Teagan shrugged. “It isn’t that you got into that habit. It’s just that’s the way you have always been, and when he came along, you didn’t adjust. You’re adjusting now. That’s a good thing.”

  “I like your version better. I’m gonna stick with it.”

  “Smart woman. Let’s go, dingleberry. Before she takes off.”

  “My car. She might know yours.”

  “Okay. Whatever happens… never mind. That was a stupid thing to say.”

  “You didn’t say it. What?”

  “I was going to say whatever happens, just make sure the baby’s okay.”

  “I’m telling you, Teagan. You sound like you have already bonded with the kid.”

  “Shut up. Let’s go.”

  Teagan typed the address into the GPS while I drove. We got there pretty quickly. It was a nice little apartment complex, not all that far away from Jessie’s place. If Teagan noticed, she didn’t say anything.

  “Which apartment?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll go look on the mailboxes.”

  “They don’t put names on mailboxes anymore.”

  “They do in places like this. There can’t be more than twenty units.”

  “Fine, I’ll go with you.”

  “No. Remember, she might recognize you, Teagan. Take my car and drive around the block. Keep your phone on your lap. If I call, get your butt right here. Quickly.”

  “Quickly?”

  “Yeah, either something went wrong, or it’s time to go. If I want you to come up to the apartment, I’ll text you with the apartment number.”

  “Fine. Be careful, dingleberry. We don’t want a repeat of Barry.”

  “You had to go there? Somehow, I don’t think Joy is going to beat the crap out of me.”

  “We don’t know if Joy’s alone.”

  “I’m good. Trust me.”

  “Am I on speed dial? Cara, if you need to call me, you might not have time to dial.”

  “Close enough. You’re on recent calls. All I have to do is hit you on the list, and the phone will dial you.”

  “If I don’t hear from you in fifteen minutes, I’m coming in.”

  “You don’t even know which apartment.”

  “I’ll scream until you answer.”

  “You’re good at that.”

  “Don’t you forget it.”

  I was right, and Teagan wasn’t even there to rub her nose in it. The mailbox for apartment three had the name Smith on it. One of those old-time labels that you don’t see much anymore. The ones with the raised letters. Black print on a yellow label. It made the whole set of mailboxes look cute and a little kitschy. I liked it.

  I texted Teagan that I thought number three was the apartment we wanted, and I was headed that way.

  I still wasn’t sure what I was going to say if Joy answered the door.

  When the door opened, I had no doubt it was Joy on the other side. She was beautiful. Prettier than Teagan, although if you quote me on that, I’ll deny it. She had lost all the baby weight already and had a killer body. She had chestnut hair to her waist, really thick. She had braided the front, what most people would use for bangs, and stuck the braid behind her ear. It was a simple style, but gorgeous on her. Her eyes were huge and bright green, and she did that thing where you tightline them. I’ve been trying to master that technique. You basically apply eyeliner in between your lashes, or some people say at the very base of your lashes. You can do it on that little part of your eyelid that’s between your eyeball and the lashes. Waterline? It makes your lashes look thicker and your eyes look bigger. Joy has the technique down. Perfectly. Her eyes looked huge, and her lashes were full and thick and long, and if she was wearing makeup other than liner and mascara, she’d done it so artfully I couldn’t tell. She really didn’t need makeup. Her face was perfect. Like her body.

  Jerk.

  “Hi. Joy?”

  “Who wants to know?”

  “My name is Cara.”

  “How’d you find me?”

  So she knew who I was. Well, that’s something. Obviously, Jessie wasn’t keeping the O’Flynns a secret from Joy, even though he kept Joy a secret from the O’Flynns. Sometimes having a less than common name is helpful.

  I guess I didn’t answer fast enough.

  “Doesn’t matter. Now that you know where I am, they’ll all know soon enough. Come on in. It’s not like taking off is going to do me any good at this point. You’ve probably got somebody sitting on my car anyway, and I need the baby seat, or I can’t go anywhere.”

  I followed her into the apartment. It was a nice little place. Clean. Smelled of something wonderful on the stove.

  She was defiant but held her head high and had some grace about it. “You came to take my daughter away from me, didn’t you?”

  “No.”

  “Yes, you did.”

  “No, I didn’t. And if you thought I did, why did you let me in your house?” The thought that she intended to cut me up into little pieces and put me down the garbage disposal came to mind. A little dramatic, yes, but Teagan had primed that pump when she brought up Barry.

  “I’m tired of running. I’ve been running since I was fourteen years old.”

  “Can we sit?”

  “Sure.” Suddenly, she seemed so deflated, I actually felt sorry for her. Maybe she wasn’t the bad guy in this little scenario. Maybe it was Jessie that was the bad guy, and he’d just blamed all this drama on Joy. It wouldn’t be the first time that one side of an argument blamed the other side. Duh. Why do we always automatically take the side of the person we know best or care about? Like if they know us, they must be better than the other person or something.

  We sat in very uncomfortable silence for a moment. I can’t do that. I know if you want to get the truth out of somebody you’re supposed to let the silence take over, but I can’t. I’m the one spilling my guts. If I ever get arrested, just start baking a cake with a file in it, because I’m going to jail even if I wasn’t any part of it. I can’t keep my mouth shut, and I would say something that they could wind into a guilty verdict even if I was a thousand miles away. “How can we help?”

  She laughed. “What? You didn’t come here to help. You came here to take my baby. You people have all the money and all the contacts, and all I’ve got is my daughter.”

  “Actually, it isn’t about you, and it isn’t abo
ut Jessie, and it isn’t about my sister. It’s about your daughter. Whatever is best for her. If staying with you is best, then that’s what should happen.”

  “Easy words, but if they’re true, why are you even here?”

  “Because you disappeared. That’s not a good thing. Both parents of a child have a right to know where the child is and that they’re safe and well cared for. You know that your daughter is happy and healthy and has everything a baby needs, but it isn’t good if Jessie has no way of knowing all that.”

  “Easy words. You know, he told me all about you guys.”

  I decided to try to keep it light. “Really? He told you about us? I can imagine some of the things he’s told you about me. He hasn’t always been my biggest fan.” I gave her a smile.

  “Not when we were first dating or anything. That would have been weird. But later, after he told me to get lost because he would rather be with your sister.”

  “I’m sorry if that hurt you. I was under the impression that it was you that left him. Having someone walk away when you’re expecting their child has got to be really painful.” One part of me hoped she was going to tell me the same thing that Jessie told Teagan, and the other part of me hoped she was actually a nice lady. Maybe all the drama was temporary, and, in the end, it would all calm down, and Poppyseed would have a great gene pool, but I doubted it.

  “I bet he told you I’m crazy, right?”

  “He hasn’t told me anything. It’s between him and my sister.”

  “That’s such a lie. If that’s true, then why are you here?”

  “Because you scared everybody. My sister showed up at my apartment and said that we needed to find the baby. Because of the people I work with, I can find anybody.” I wanted her to be aware that if she did take off with Poppy, we would be fast on her trail.

  I didn’t hate her yet, but I didn’t trust her either.

  I continued, trying to keep my voice warm and accepting. “You know, my mother told me all my life that you don’t hide what you’re proud of. If you’re proud of the way you’re raising your daughter, if you know in your heart that you’re a good mom and all that, then why hide?”

  “Did your mom tell you what to do if a guy tries to take your baby? If you get pregnant, and then he freaks the hell out, and you’re on your own for months while he finds another woman to spend his time and money on? Then he comes back when she says she wants your kid. What the hell am I supposed to do? He’s gonna marry her. He never even offered to let me move into his condo. He’s all about her, and where does that leave me and Joynessa?”

  “It leaves you in the minority, but just barely.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Almost half the kids in the country are either living with a single parent or have lived with a single parent. Actually, it might be more than half. I have all that information put aside for my boss, but I can’t exactly remember the numbers. The important thing to know is that you aren’t alone. There are millions of single mothers in the world today. They make it work. You can make it work, too. If you want to.”

  “Easy words.”

  “I’m not saying it’s easy. I’m saying that you put Poppy as your highest priority, and you make it work. You don’t need the instant gratification of having it your way or always being right. You need to make this about your daughter.”

  “How many kids do you have?”

  “None.”

  “Then what makes you think you know anything about any of this?”

  “I’ve never lit myself on fire, but I know not to do it. I haven’t won a hundred million dollars — yet — but I know my first step would be to find the perfect financial planner or money person or whatever you call them. I don’t need to have children to know that children always come first. I was a child, and that’s how my parents raised us, and it worked.”

  “Yes, I heard all about it. Your sister is the perfect woman. Even after Jess told her everything, she kept him. She didn’t take off. That’s what I would have done.”

  “If you know all about my family, you know that we’re a big anchor. That means an O’Flynn isn’t likely to take off. It also means if you’re drowning, a huge anchor might not be the most comforting thing, but it does keep you in one place.”

  “I don’t have anything like that.”

  “I’m sorry that you don’t. Speaking of the O’Flynns, I need to text Teagan and tell her that we’re good.”

  “What did you think I was gonna do?”

  “I hoped that you would talk to me. That we could get to know each other a little bit. That things would be fine. But I don’t know you at all, and it wasn’t so long ago that someone I thought I knew really well turned on me. I got pretty broken. I’m a little bit paranoid.”

  “Been there. I’ve gotten the shit kicked out of me by every guy I’ve ever been with.”

  I couldn’t help the knee jerk reaction. “Jessie hit you?”

  “No, not him. I guess that’s why I thought we would be able to work everything out. He was the first guy ever that treated me really nice. Brought me to nice places. Opened doors for me. We were really good together until your sister showed up. He threw me to the side. Didn’t even care that I was pregnant. Your sister is the reason that I’m all screwed up.”

  I texted Teagan. Told her that Joy and I were talking. That she was NOT to come to the door. Just hang out until I texted back.

  Over an hour later, I texted her again: Pick me up where you dropped me off.

  SIX

  “I TOLD YOU, Teagan, I’m not saying anything until Jessie gets here. It’s not my fault you called him and told him I spent time with Joy. It’s not my fault he wants to hear all about it from me, not thirdhand from you. I’m not going to repeat everything twice. You said he would be here in thirty-ish minutes. Eat your chocolate and relax.”

  Teagan did her very best pout. “I’m your sister.”

  “This isn’t about you. It’s about Joynessa.”

  “Please do not call her that.”

  “It’s her name. It’s disrespectful to her to call her anything else, at least until we know her well enough to pick the perfect nickname. And why are you being so petty all of the sudden? It isn’t really like you, Teagan.”

  “Fine. Be mature about it. I’m really hating this new Cara, you know. The old one was much more fun. We could sit at the table and eat chocolate and figure out a way to put a hex on that woman and be done with it.”

  “In the old days, we didn’t have a baby to worry about.”

  “See? Mature. I hate that.” She gave me a little smile. “Is A.J. going to be here to hear all the gory details of my private life?”

  “No. I’ll tell him all about it later. He’s in Old Town working. He has meetings with a couple of the businesses. He also has a shoot to do tonight. Five generations.”

  “That’s nice.”

  “On both sides.”

  “Does that even happen? How does that work? Do all the brothers and sisters just inbreed?”

  “No, idiot. They’re just one big huge loving family that’s all getting together for one big huge shoot. They’ll take all the traditional shots. But I’m sure A.J. has something special planned. He had to go over to Daddy’s and borrow the tall ladder so he could get high enough to fit all the people into at least one group shot.”

  “I can’t wait to see it. Wouldn’t it be nice to have that for the O’Flynns?”

  “We better start popping out more kids soon, or Mom and Daddy better live to be really, really old.”

  “We’ll hope for the latter.”

  There was a quiet knock on the door, and Teagan just about killed herself to get to it first.

  I hadn’t seen Jessie in a while. Not since all of this blew up. Well, I hadn’t seen him standing in good light.

  He looked terrible.

  He was thinner.

  He was kind of gray around the edges.

  He looked like he had the weight of the wor
ld on his shoulders.

  When Teagan went to greet him, there was something missing.

  They weren’t acting like Teagan and Jessie.

  Something between them had died.

  It was sad to see.

  I wondered if they were going to be able to make it.

  By the time we were all sitting at the table with a pot of tea, the tension was enough to make a knot in my stomach.

  “I don’t know how I got in the middle of this, but I just want to make sure you guys understand that I’m not going to be the bad guy here. I’m not going to be the one that you guys get mad at and then blame whenever everything gets hard. If you don’t commit to that right now, then I’m done before I ever start.”

  “We wouldn’t do that.” Teagan sounded annoyed already.

  “Yeah, that’s really easy to say, but that’s the way it works out. Teagan, you’ve been bitching at me for twenty minutes. And I’m sorry, but what I have to say isn’t one hundred percent all about Jessie, so that’s gonna make you guys mad, too.”

  “So you’re on her side now?” Teagan couldn’t help herself.

  “See? I haven’t said anything yet and look what you’re doing.”

  “Maybe if you would say something, I wouldn’t jump to the wrong conclusion. Cara, you have been my sister all my life. I’m not going to turn on you over this or anything else.”

  “We’ll see.”

  I spent most of the next hour telling them what Joy had told me. What it all came down to was relatively simple. She’d started dating Jessie with high hopes that they would have a great relationship. They seemed to. She was happy. She thought he was happy, too. They were doing fine. Spending most of their time together. As far as she was concerned, they were well on their way to happily ever after. Joy claimed that she was completely blindsided when Jessie told her that he was seeing Teagan, that he’d been in love with her since he was a child, and that he didn’t want to be with Joy anymore.

  She admitted that she had played games with guys in the past, so she understood why Jessie didn’t believe she was pregnant at first. That was why she went away. While O’Flynns run to O’Flynn central — Mom and Daddy’s house — she had nobody to run to, so she just ran away. She admitted that was stupid and wrong. She said that when it was obvious that she was pregnant, she came back to talk to Jessie again. He just laughed at her and said it probably wasn’t even his baby. She was devastated. She left again.